Was Parliament more rebellious in the eighteenth century?

In a week when backbench MPs and the government clashed over the right to debate Coronavirus regulations before they become law, how does the role of the modern MP compare with that of an eighteenth century honourable member? Were MPs a check upon - or a rubber-stamp for - successive Whig governments and how diligently did they perform their duties?  

In this week's Black's History Week podcast, Professor Jeremy Black, author of Walpole in Power and Parliament and Foreign Policy in the Eighteenth Century, talks to The Critic's political editor, Graham Stewart, about the nature of parliamentary government in Georgian Britain.

--

Image: Sir Robert Walpole in the House of Commons, circa 1700s

Music: Radetzky March by Human Symphony Orchestra (premiumbeat.com)

See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.